Two Missing At Pandavkada Waterfall In Kharghar As Activists Demand Eco Tourism Plan
Two youngsters went missing and are feared drowned after separate incidents on Friday and Saturday at the Pandavkada waterfall in the Kharghar node of Navi Mumbai. The tragedies have prompted environmentalists and social activists to urge the Maharashtra government to revive a long-abandoned eco-tourism project at the site.
Mohammed Mobshir Mohammed Shahid, a 20-year-old resident of Taloja, went missing on Friday evening. He was part of a group of five picnickers who had reached the waterfall. On Saturday, Shannon Kini, a 19-year-old college student from Santacruz, went missing after entering the gorge of the waterfall. Both had defied active prohibitory orders to visit the site.
The Kharghar fire brigade and local police teams conducted search operations to track the two missing youngsters. According to social activists, visitors frequently access the waterfall through multiple unofficial and treacherous routes despite the official ban, barricades, and police deployment.
Environmentalists argued that scientific management, rather than blanket prohibitory orders, is needed to prevent the recurring loss of life at the landmark. The Forest Department had previously initiated an eco-tourism project at Pandavkada in 2014, constructing a compound wall, a ticket counter, and a changing room. However, the initiative was abruptly abandoned, leaving the infrastructure unused.
Activists have called on the state government to establish a coordinated institutional framework to manage the site. This would involve the Forest Department, CIDCO, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, the Panvel civic body, police, fire services, the Bombay Natural History Society, and local environmental groups.
"The administration cannot wish away people’s desire to experience nature," said Jyoti Nadkarni, Director of SwarnSrishti Habitat Restorer Foundation. She stated that the government should create a professionally managed eco-tourism destination with safety protocols instead of allowing people to slip into dangerous, unmonitored areas.
NatConnect Foundation Director B N Kumar added that the Kharghar-Belapur hill range offers an opportunity to create one of Maharashtra’s finest urban eco-tourism destinations. He noted that proper planning could turn Pandavkada into a national model for safe nature tourism.
